Jingzhou, early November.
As the dry season approached and the waters of the Yangtze gradually receded, Yue Jin's scouts grew bolder by the day, venturing farther south with each passing morning. Only then did the defenders of Dangyang come to realize that their commander possessed an archery skill that bordered on the supernatural.
In the past, dealing with prying scouts had been a simple matter. The city walls and watchtowers were more than enough to drive them off.
But General Huang Zhong, despite his silver hair, was a man of astonishing vigor.
He ate with an appetite that put younger men to shame, regularly polishing off ten catties of meat in a sitting, and could still draw a heavy war bow while mounted on a galloping steed. Every few days, he personally led a small detachment out through the gates to sweep the perimeter.
If Yue Jin's scouts were even a moment too slow in retreating, they usually ended up with a single, perfectly placed arrow through the heart.
As a result, while enemy scouting activity had intensified, the immediate surroundings of Dangyang remained strangely still.
For the common folk of Dangyang, life had changed little since the nightmare of the great armies passing through months earlier. The only noticeable difference was that the price of rice and cloth had fallen, and the new General Huang Zhong spoke with a gentle warmth that made him easy to approach.
The lack of enemy progress made the gate guards somewhat lax.
Two soldiers leaned on their spears, heads close together, voices dropping like they were sharing state secrets.
"Hey, you heard? Word is flying that General Zhang has been sentenced to hard labor!"
The second soldier's eyes went bright enough to light a campfire.
"Brother, that is old news! Latest rumor says they stripped him of his command entirely! And get this, some say the Lord actually cut a whole sleeve right off his robe to show their brotherhood is done! Finished! Over!"
"Oh? You were under General Zhang's banner before they moved you to General Huang?"
"Was! Served right under Zhang Fei himself, saw him roar loud enough to rattle the tent poles! That is how I know all the inside stuff!"
"Then spill! What really happened? Did he really storm into the hall swinging his spear?"
"Not just swinging, they say he nearly knocked over the whole throne! And that is not even half of it! Some say he stormed out and will not come back! Others say he has already packed his armor and gone back to the countryside to till the land!"
"Till the land? Him? The man who once said farming is for people who do not have swords? I will believe it when I see it!"
"Believe what you want, half the barracks is saying one thing, half the other! You go ask the cook, he will tell you it is a fight over wine! Ask the stable hand, he will tell you it is about a horse! Ask the clerk, he will say it is about taxes! Everyone has got a version, and every single one sounds more true than the last!"
Naturally, he had not been sentenced to labor, and Liu Bei certainly had not severed their brotherhood.
After the Lightscreen's transmission ended, Guan Yu, Wei Yan, and Zhao Yun had all returned to their respective posts.
Zhang Fei, however, had found himself short on supplies in Linju and had gone to Gong'an to request a grain transfer from Liu Bei.
The request had been approved immediately.
But after the grain was loaded, Liu Bei had informed him with a perfectly straight face that they were short on pack horses. One particular cart of grain would therefore have to be pushed back to Linju by Zhang Fei personally.
Fine.
Pushing a cart was hardly a problem.
From Gong'an to Linju was barely 200 li.
And so here was Zhang Fei, huffing and puffing as he wrestled with a one-wheeled contraption that Zhuge Liang called a Wooden Ox.
It was stacked dangerously high with sacks of grain, and the Third General was making the long journey home with an increasingly sore back.
Back atop the battlements of Gong'an, Zhuge Liang stood at a high vantage point, gazing into the distance.
In one hand, he held a small notebook, meticulously recording his observations.
"It seems the Wooden Ox still requires further refinement. Even Yide is struggling quite a bit with the balance."
He tapped the page lightly with the tip of his brush.
"If the cargo is stacked too high, it becomes unstable. Perhaps we should add a support frame, or maybe a kickstand."
Liu Bei stood beside him, his expression still somewhat sour from his brother's recent antics, though the worry in his eyes betrayed his concern for the man pushing the cart.
"Since my lord seems so reluctant to watch him suffer, perhaps we should simply send two pack horses after him," Zhuge Liang said with a teasing smile.
"Yide and that mouth of his..."
Liu Bei shook his head and deliberately looked away.
He then followed Zhuge Liang down from the battlements and onto the streets of Gong'an.
They passed street hawkers and peddlers, watching the bustling crowds.
Compared to a year ago, the people looked far more spirited. Most could now afford to eat their fill.
It was a sight that brought a rare and genuine smile to Liu Bei's face.
However, while Zhang Fei had departed for Linju, he had also left behind an enormous headache for Liu Bei to deal with.
Upon returning to the County Office, Liu Bei looked at the youth standing before him.
The boy was young, his skin tanned to a deep copper by the sun, and his hands were rough and calloused from years spent working on the river.
But it was his eyes that caught Liu Bei's attention. There was something in them. A glint of mischief, a spark of reckless confidence, and just a hint of madness.
This one is going to be trouble.
"My Lord!"
The youth bowed deeply, then immediately straightened up with a grin that was far too wide for someone meeting a governor for the first time.
"Gan Gui, at your service! Son of Gan Xingba, may the river gods bless his angry old soul. River rat by birth, pirate by choice, and currently, very lost. But not for long. No, not for long at all."
Liu Bei blinked.
"I am not your lord."
"Not yet." Gan Gui's grin widened. "But give it time, my lord. Give it time. I am very persuasive. Ask General Zhang. He caught me, and now look at me. Standing in your lovely hall, drinking your lovely tea, and offering you my very lovely services."
Liu Bei glanced at his own empty cup, then back at the boy.
"You are not drinking anything."
"A tragedy, is it not?" Gan Gui pressed a hand to his chest, as if wounded. "But I accept the pain. A man without tea is a man without purpose, yet here I stand. Alive. Breathing. And still very persuasive."
This was the trouble Zhang Fei had dumped on him.
Zhuge Liang watched the scene with amusement glimmering in his eyes before asking gently, "Gan Gui, are you still refusing to return to Wu?"
The boy pressed both hands dramatically over his chest this time.
"Return to Wu? And do what? Sit on a boat, grow old, and die without ever seeing the mountains of Linjiang again? By the river gods, no. That is not a life. That is a slow funeral with extra steps."
He shook his head, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
"I want to follow Lord Xuande back to my ancestral home. And in return, I will offer something far more valuable than gold. Something far more useful than an army. Something that will make you weep with gratitude and name your children after me."
"And what would that be?" Zhuge Liang asked, playing along.
Gan Gui leaned in, eyes gleaming.
"Me."
The room went still for a moment.
Then Liu Bei let out a long, tired sigh.
Yide really does talk too much...
"Gan Gui... I remember Yide saying you admitted that you sneaked out on your own?"
The boy nodded, his expression dimming as he recalled the memory.
"When Chief Commander Zhou Yu passed away, the old man cried the entire night. Then he spent the next week drowning himself in wine. Fine wine, mind you. Not the cheap stuff. The man has standards even when he is heartbroken."
"He said that in Wu, the only one we could rely on to get us home was the Chief Commander. Now that he is gone, the old man says we will both end up as wandering ghosts after death. Floating around, haunting boats, scaring fishermen. Not the afterlife I had in mind, I will tell you that."
His voice softened.
"I did not like hearing that."
"The old man used to tell me stories about when he was a river pirate in his youth. By the gods, the man could talk. Every story ended the same way. He was the hero. Everyone else was an idiot. And the river always saved him at the last moment."
"Figured I could do the same. How hard could it be, right? Sail the rivers. Catch some loot. Become a legend."
His face fell.
"...then General Zhang caught me."
At the mention of his capture, the boy looked thoroughly deflated.
"Caught me like a fish in a bucket. Did not even break a sweat. Just picked me up by the collar and said, 'Nice boat.' I did not even get to explain my grand plan."
Liu Bei nodded slowly.
"So when Xianhe told you he was from Yizhou, you attacked him instead of stopping."
Liu Bei had long heard of the old grudge between Gan Ning and Liu Zhang.
Years ago, when tensions between Jingzhou and Yizhou had been high, Gan Ning had been incited to rebel against Liu Zhang.
After his defeat at the hands of Zhao Wei, Gan Ning had become a wanderer, a man with a home he could no longer return to.
Jian Yong had nearly died because of a grudge older than the boy now sitting before them.
"Why does Gan Xingba not simply swallow his pride and apologize to Liu Zhang?" Liu Bei suggested. "Zhao Wei is gone. If your father offered a formal apology, he could surely return to his post as a Deputy Prefect."
Gan Gui's eyes widened, then he shook his head violently.
"By the river gods and every fish that swims beneath, no. The old man has hated Liu Zhang since he was young. If you asked him to bow his head now, he would rather remain a wandering ghost for all eternity. Haunt every boat on the Yangtze. Curse every fisherman who dares cast a net at midnight."
Liu Bei stared at Gan Gui, his mind already racing with possibilities.
He was reluctant to step on Sun Quan's toes, but the boy's persistence was difficult to ignore.
"My Lord, I can train a navy. I can help General Guan."
Gan Gui pounded his chest.
Yide really does talk too much...
Liu Bei could feel his resolve wavering.
Guan Yu had already mentioned that training the navy was proving difficult.
The men recruited from Lei Xu were not true sailors. They were bandits who merely happened to possess boats.
They lacked discipline, formation work, and the specialized maneuvers of a proper naval force.
Mi Zhu had even tried to buy the training methods of Wu's navy, but had returned empty-handed.
"My Lord, I can even bring over the old man's 800 personal retainers."
Gan Gui spoke with complete confidence.
"Every single one of them. Fierce, loyal, and only slightly murderous. As long as you promise to take us home, you are our lord. Simple as that. No fine print. No hidden clauses. Just a river boy asking a mountain lord for a ride home."
Liu Bei immediately reached out and gripped the boy's hands firmly.
"Good..!!! With Gan Gui's help, I have gained more than 10,000 elite troops."
Gan Gui beamed with delight.
Just wait, old man. The lord I found is far better than yours. By the river gods, I will drag you home even if I have to row the boat myself.
Zhuge Liang had already slipped away, having seen exactly how this would end.
Zhou Yu's death had sent ripples through Wu's power structure, and Gan Ning's frustration was only the beginning.
Zhuge Liang recalled his earlier conversations with Lu Su.
It was no secret that Lü Meng and Gan Ning were both hot-tempered men who frequently clashed.
Gan Ning had been obsessed with invading Yizhou, a plan Zhou Yu had strongly supported, which was precisely why he had once been so highly favored.
But with Zhou Yu gone, Gan Ning had become like a rootless weed.
He likely saw the changing winds more clearly than anyone.
Now that Gan Gui had accidentally defected to Liu Bei, Gan Ning would most likely turn a blind eye even if he learned of it.
Zhuge Liang did, however, find himself wondering what fate had originally been recorded for the boy in the history books.
Shaking the thought from his mind, he entered a small courtyard.
The sharp scent of bitter medicinal herbs immediately filled his nostrils.
A bright and charming smile spread across his face.
"Doctor Zhang, how is the progress on the medicinal powders we discussed?